The 26th day of the Counting of the Omer begins as Shabbat ends on Saturday night. Tonight we count three weeks and five days of the Omer.

This is the day of Hod within Netzach, humility within endurance. In the imagination of Jewish mysticism, these two qualities are paired opposites. Netzach is triumph and the determination to transform imperfect reality into the ideal. Hod is humility and the quality of accepting things as they are. How does one find the acceptance of imperfection within the striving toward the ideal? In a real sense, one cannot exist without the other.

On this day, I think about how my highest ambitions cannot succeed if I do not have the humility to acknowledge that there is something outside of myself that allows me to bring those dreams to reality. I think about how I live in a community, a world, and a reality. If I am to transform any of them, I must lower my ego to see myself as a part of them.

On this 26th day of the Counting of the Omer, I am mindful that I am a small part of a much larger reality, but I also am mindful of the audacious belief that I can change it for the better.

May this be a day in which you see yourself as you truly are – a tiny part of a miraculous creation, yet a part that was created for greatness.

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